$600,000 Ice Fall Settlement in Huntington Station

Walking to his car in the driveway of his rental home in Huntington Station when he hit a patch of ice and went down. The fall fractured his hip in multiple places — surgery, six days in Huntington Hospital, and weeks of inpatient rehab at Gurwin. All because the landlord failed to clear the ice.

Slip and Fall on Ice in a Huntington Station Driveway

Our client was leaving his rental property in Huntington Station, walking to his car, when he slipped on ice in the driveway and fell. The impact of the fall caused a multi-part fracture of his right hip — one of the most serious injuries a fall can produce, particularly for someone already managing pre-existing mobility limitations. Emergency medical services transported him to Huntington Hospital, where imaging confirmed the complex fracture pattern and surgical intervention was scheduled immediately.

The hip surgery was followed by six days of inpatient hospital care and then transfer to Gurwin Rehabilitation Center for extended inpatient rehab. The total course of institutional care — hospital plus rehabilitation facility — kept our client away from his home and daily life for weeks. Hip fractures fundamentally alter a person's mobility, independence, and quality of life, and the recovery process is measured in months, not weeks. Our client faced an especially challenging rehabilitation because he was already managing a pre-existing spinal condition that affected his lower extremity function.

Landlord's Failure to Clear Ice From the Driveway

In Suffolk County, property owners have a duty to clear snow and ice from walkways and driveways within a reasonable time after a weather event ends. The snow and ice event that created the condition in our client's driveway had ended well before his fall — giving the landlord adequate time to salt, sand, or clear the driveway. The landlord failed to take any remedial action, leaving the ice in place on a surface that tenants used daily to access their vehicles.

Our attorneys investigated the timeline of the weather event, the condition of the driveway at the time of the fall, and the landlord's snow removal practices. Photographic evidence taken after the accident showed extensive foot traffic across the icy driveway — indicating that the ice had been present for an extended period and that multiple people had traversed the dangerous surface before our client fell. The evidence supported the conclusion that the ice condition had persisted well beyond the point at which a responsible landlord would have addressed it.

"The ice had been there long enough for multiple people to walk across it — you could see the footprints in the photos taken after the fall. The landlord had more than enough time to salt or clear that driveway. Instead, our client walked out to his car on an untreated ice sheet and fractured his hip in multiple places. Six days in Huntington Hospital, weeks at Gurwin rehab — all of it preventable if the landlord had done the basic job of clearing ice from a residential driveway." — Samantha Raphaelson, Attorney

$600,000 Mediation Result for a Suffolk County Ice Fall

This $600,000 mediation result covers hip fracture surgery, six days of hospital care, extended inpatient rehabilitation at Gurwin, outpatient physical therapy, lost wages, and the permanent mobility limitations our client now manages. It holds the landlord accountable for a failure to clear ice that was both predictable and preventable.

If you slipped and fell on ice at a rental property or residential building, our premises liability attorneys have experience with landlord negligence claims in Suffolk County and are ready to review your case.